johnraux

I agree that you think we disagree.

Thu, 24 May 2012 12:10:29 -0500

I agree that you think we disagree.

Open Studio: John Raux’s one year show of Residency at...

Fri, 11 May 2012 15:29:41 -0500

Open Studio: John Raux’s one year show of Residency at BNIM

Wednesday May 23rd, 6-8pm

BNIM(14th and Baltimore)

I will do a short presentation at 6pm
followed by live music by Akkilles
and slideshow of the etch-a-sketches made in NYC.

All of my work made this past year will be on display.
food and beverages will be provided

All of the art, stickers, and posters will be available for sale that evening.
Proceeds made from the Open Studio will support my journey to the Black Forest (and my cousin’s wedding) later this year.

Question Reality. How may I help you?

Thu, 03 May 2012 10:38:48 -0500

Question Reality. How may I help you?

I’m a spaceman. How about you?

Mon, 30 Apr 2012 12:27:46 -0500

I’m a spaceman. How about you?

humming some wagon wheel song heard during Sunday Night...

Wed, 25 Apr 2012 18:07:05 -0500

humming some wagon wheel song heard during Sunday Night gatherings from yesteryear.

Beatnik Radio hosts a conversation with me to the graveyard and back.

Wed, 18 Apr 2012 14:55:37 -0500

Beatnik Radio hosts a conversation with me to the graveyard and back.

Converdance - Timothy Johnson “Death is green. She wears it like...

Mon, 09 Apr 2012 15:35:00 -0500

Converdance - Timothy Johnson

“Death is green.

She wears it like a cotton dress

wet, and soft as the earthing under a bed of needles.

Like maggots wear a carcass, or

iron through a man’s wrists.

She can’t escape it, try as she might,

any more than you can believe it.

Because you too are green

and all that is green must meet death,

linger late over one last cornerbooth coffee.

Or walk a mile of iron tracks

to find her in a watery ditch

and smelling of cinnamon and rotten peaches.

Or with the intake of breath

over an unpadded crib,

knowing safety is an illusion.

Every green tree, every green love,

every voyage and every contentment

has her number, calls death at home.

I cannot tell you she loves you. She doesn’t.

I can’t even tell you that she is good, remember.

That is a shortcut of a lie, but

death is green. And,

there is no God. I’m sorry to tell you like this.

But there. You are finally free to meet him now

in August fields where you once ran,

swishing against dry grass, crickets creaking

and burrs under socks.

Mind the thorns of the hedgeapple tree, and

bring a friend because

you will never speak with God

when the voices you carry alone drown him out.

So sit quietly together.

Throw the fruit at the trunk if you must.

Loft it to splatter in wild flowers.

Let it split and you can smell it.

Break it open to prophesy these truths.

There you will find him.

When we sat there, I had only one question:

You were supposed to be making all things new.

Why do we still live these carrion days?

And all he said was, When I met her

Death was green.

And she is green.

And when she heeds the word

and flattens hills and mountains,

we will all be green again.

But for now, I know your guilt is great;

even fifty-two resurrection rests cannot comfort you.

Forty days of light won’t do it.

You’re open wounds from head to soul.

And it’s all of us.

Our protests of peace preach words of war.

Those who occupy fields eat too little,

and those who occupy suits eat too much.

And for all we know, we just sold our own winter

for a summer of storms.

Listen, they pepper-spray people to start a conversation.

I would like to tell you that there is an army readied,

messengers of God steady at the door

to come in firing

and put justice on a throne, throw

up a tent for shade, and

pave a highway through the desert.

But he long ago rose off the mountain

and left us to love for ourselves.

All we have for help is our synchronized breath.

And so there’s nothing between us, I will speak plainly. I spent last year depressed. As a result, I got fired in October, the Monday after we confirmed Jill was pregnant. Our community house lost steam. A draft of a novel spent nine months unedited. I felt like a bad and a lazy and a stupid person. Who can’t just show up at an easy job every day and do easy work? I felt like I flunked the whole year.

One morning this January I woke up and I felt okay for once. And the next day was good too. And then I had a week, and then two weeks. I was terrified to not feel awful. But I’m not depressed right now. My novel is filling out, but slowly. I don’t really have a job. I’m doing this temp thing that’s boring me to tears.

And Jill’s still got that kid growing in her belly.

While I want to believe that all these deaths

will be fully green, I can only see shoots.

There’s a swelling, like they say.

And I hope that April is only the cruelest month

if you fight it. If you expect it to save you,

instead of just letting it be,

instead of refusing to believe we need

death to be green.

Because we do. Even if there’s no romance

in her stench. Even if you can’t wash the glow

off Fukishma and Chernobyl, or

the slime from the shores of Indonesia.

Even though we are all death times death. Fat off

plagues and rich off wars. We’re Lannisters and Hitlers,

and we come from strong stock.

But we’re also Days and Ben-Jospephs.

We’ve had a long love affair with trees.

We are dead stars breathed into life.

So all I ask that you give us your hands, and

we’ll be friends becuse we are not slumbering here.

I won’t claim to be Puck, or Tiresias.

Or even Isaiah, who accused us

of being grasshoppers while

God lounges on the horizon.

Because something changed when God ripped

the curtain down to show that he wasn’t Oz

pulling at levers. He pulled it down to show us

there was no one there at all.

You didn’t need to keep trying

to make that leap of faith.

The word of God became green.

”

My good friend and inspiration wrote this poem for a prayer vigil prior to Easter during the flurry of MOtM. I heard it on Sunday after my life had been emptied for the festival.

Today is always new. Now is always the time. Here is where we are found. We can choose to scrap for a piece or become a participant. No excuses, no scapegoats, no judgements. Are you ready to dance?

The ongoing forum of life together.

Sat, 07 Apr 2012 14:02:09 -0500

The time is ripe to change the world by simply living, or rather living simply. Thank you all for your great “heart spirit” on display this weekend! I am humbled and proud of what is moving in the culture of Kansas City. As cheesy as it may sound, you are my inspiration. There is hope in the journey and dispair in the endless chatter about journeying. May we embody hope.

E.F. Schumacher- small is beautiful “The way in which we experience and interpret the world obviously depends very much indeed on the kind of ideas that fill our minds. If they are mainly small, weak, superficial, and incoherent, life will appear insipid, uninteresting, petty and chaotic. It is difficult to bear the resultant feeling of emptiness, and the vacuum of our minds may only too easily be filled by some big, fantastic notion - political or otherwise - which suddenly seems to illuminate everything and to give meaning and purpose to our existence. It needs no emphasis that herein lies one of the great dangers of our time. “

“Greater even than the mystery of natural growth is the mystery of the natural cessation of growth. There is measure in all natural things - in their size, speed, or violence. As a result, the system of nature, of which man is a part, tends to be self-balancing, self-adjusting, self-cleansing. Not so with technology, or perhaps I should say: not so with man dominated by technology and specialisation. Technology recognises no self-limiting principle - in terms, for instance, of size, speed or violence. It therefore does not possess the virtues of being self-balancing, self-adjusting, and self-cleansing. “

“This is your Forum, this is your Fest” -Nathan...

Fri, 30 Mar 2012 21:16:06 -0500

“This is your Forum, this is your Fest” -Nathan Reusch regarding MOtM in Kansas City

therecordmachine:

Video of the Day: La Guerre - The Benefits (Part II)

This song just kills me. We can’t wait to release some more new material for La Guerre! Her full length can’t come quick enough.

“Don’t be afraid to start humble.” -David...

Thu, 29 Mar 2012 14:57:32 -0500

“Don’t be afraid to start humble.” -David Ford

therecordmachine:

Video of the Day: La Guerre - Feel Better (Mates of State cover)

Here is another one of new acts with a cover of Mates of State. Katlyn was a pro in the studio nailing everything in one take! While being faithful to original she adds her own twist on the song.

If the problem is super hard to solve, zoom...

Mon, 26 Mar 2012 13:51:17 -0500

If the problem is super hard to solve, zoom out.

therecordmachine:

Video of the Day - Spirit is the Spirit - True Loves (Hooray For Earth cover)

A few weeks ago we invited a few bands into Element Recording Studios here in Kansas City to make promo videos for our upcoming Middle of the Map Fest. We invited a few of the newest members of The Record Machine family like Spirit Is the Spirit, La Guerre and Making Movies to record one cover and one original for us. Here is today’s video from Lawrence natives Spirit Is The Spirit.

Making faces in my food.

Mon, 19 Mar 2012 20:22:58 -0500

Making faces in my food.

Chomping bit. Dead end Should drive You mad? Last place Expect...

Tue, 13 Mar 2012 18:09:36 -0500

Chomping bit. Dead end Should drive You mad? Last place Expect rain Casting shadows Banking enterprise Slippery slope Style biting Flow of the slump.

Sometimes we remember home by visiting with strangers and long...

Sun, 11 Mar 2012 09:12:00 -0500

Sometimes we remember home by visiting with strangers and long lost acquaintances.

Last night I had papusas on Central Ave and went to Stephen Bushman’s art opening.(the bike ride was incredible) There I met one of the wonderful artists participating in the Forum’s show for the first time. Her excitement was a treasure. Its been years since I hosted Sunday night dinners at my house but the thought triggered in me… making people welcome is my way home. My roots come not from consistency(at least not on the outside) but from the kind of relationships sown that are not easily broken(like family). Put it all out there, suspend our expectations, make love in the spaces of vulnerable conversation that bind the unsaid covenant of our home, here on earth, together.

“The love of complexity without reductionism makes art;...

Fri, 09 Mar 2012 09:33:48 -0600

“The love of complexity without reductionism makes art; the love of complexity with reductionism makes science” -EO Wilson

As the Forum draws near, I find my journey painted clearly by occam’s razor as a necessary complement. My heart is in the unraveling & exploring of the elegant unknown as a relationship with future revelation. Parsimony’s bride is gracious poetry.

In a culture aching with info, the salve is remarkably...

Sat, 03 Mar 2012 17:26:43 -0600

In a culture aching with info, the salve is remarkably childlike.

thecrowandthewolfproject:

Natural Learning School

“Learning is experience. Everything else is just information.”
-Albert Einstein

Down to our last minute in Memphis, we found ourselves experiencing yet another layer of alternative thinking that this Southern city had to offer.

While conducting Domestic Coordinates, a gentleman that participated felt strongly that we should visit the Natural Learning School, an alternative homeschool that is based on the Reggio Emilia approach to education. Reggio Emilia is rooted in the belief that children, no matter their age, are natural learners.

The class is multi-aged and embodies a child-centered curriculum (meaning the children’s interests inspire what is learned) along with other holistic developmental teaching strategies, we as artists and educators, feel so passionate about. Within their stated philiosophy they describe their program as one that empowers children to begin to seek knowledge independently, become more open to learning about any and all subjects and acquire greater interpersonal skills through effective communication by negotiation, respecting differences, and peer collaboration.

Kandra Kolehmainen, a teacher at the school, invited us to come into her class and share our project with the kids and have them participate in Domestic Coordinates. It was wonderful to observe the compassion she exudes to her students, two of which are her own, and the innovative and unique project-based learning that goes on. The kids, ages 5-11 are working on a film project, maintaining a garden, researching and studying various subjects, and developing early critical and creative thinking skills.

Each student provided us with a glimpse into their young lives through there creative responses to the questions, “What is home to you? What was your first home ?” We did not need to provide a juvenile explanation of what we were doing project-wise nor did we receive a simple or “child-like” response. It was really beautiful to observe the energy and process taking place in a room of 18 students. Collaborative, respectful, interested, and highly intelligent. Seeing it firsthand, this platform for educating is incredibly successful.

In a society where art appreciation and integration into curriculum continues to be on a downward spiral, more and more parents realize that just learning academics and how to take tests are not nearly enough. Many of us are coming to admit that young people in their communities are suffering from a lack of needed learning and creative exploration, and society is suffering from this as well. We applaud these teachers and parents who are completely stepping outside of the norm and mainstream and taking education and their children’s futures into their own hands in a progressive and alternative direction.

If you are a concerned parent or not, you can read more about these concepts by checking out the following pages:

Reggio Emilia

unschooling

holistic education

Special thanks Kandra her teaching partner and her students.

topfiver: Here is something I have been working extremely hard...

Tue, 28 Feb 2012 11:40:35 -0600

topfiver:

Here is something I have been working extremely hard on top putting on a music festival. I I am really excited to see what will come out of Middle Of the Map this year.

therecordmachine:

In addition to Middle of the Map Fest we have also been working hard on another element that we are calling The Forum. We wanted to create a new crossroads for Art, Culture, and Technology on top of all the music that we bring together. Check out more info below and our new site:

www.middleofthemapfest.com/forum

The Forum at Ink’s Middle of the Map Fest

Tech + Culture + Art + Film

April 5-6

February 27, 2012, Kansas City, MO – Ink magazine and The Record Machine are pleased to announce the addition of The Forum to Ink’s Middle of the Map Fest. The tech, art, culture, and film forum will take place April 5-6, from 8am-6pm, in Kansas City’s Crossroads Art District at OfficePort, StagePort, and Screenland Theater. Forum two day passes are $50 or $75 to include the music fest. Tickets are on sale now and can be purchased at middleofthemapfest.com/forum.

Society, culture, and technology are moving at a faster pace than ever so now is the time to connect, reflect, and dialogue about the currents moving us into the future. Facilitated in the cultural and geographical middle of America, the Forum is creating a unique space to refine and direct new and unforeseen ideas, experiences and collaborations.

The Forum will consist of keynote speakers and panel dialogues, and will include more than 60 influential thought and culture leaders exploring, translating and synthesizing participant’s conversations on a spectrum of topics. Keynote speakers will fuel the creative fire and set the tone for the dialogues. The dialogues will be led by panels of 3 -5 facilitators for each topic.

Keynote Speakers:
Bill Berkebile, BNIM, Founding Principle, FAIA
Peter Witte, UMKC Conservatory of Music and Dance, Dean
Bill Zahner, Zahner, President & CEO
Porter Arneill, KCMO, Kansas City Arts Commissioner

Dialogue Panelists:
Anthony Magliano - Quixotic Fusion, Rachel Hack- Google Fiber, Anthony Wilson - Microsoft, Gregory Kratofil - Polsinelli Shughart, Ryan Weber - KC Next, Teri Rogers - Take2, Andy McLeod - VML, Barry Anderson – UMKC, Steve Miller- Mindmixer, Stephen Hardy- BNIM, James Roberts – Huddle, Sean Kelley - City Arts Project, Danny O’Neill - The Roasterie, Jon Stephens- Rockhill Strategic, Json Myers - artist, Cara Lewis - Cara&Cabezas, Matt Dehaemers - artist, Jeff Owens - Good Friends Entertainment, Jonathan Arnold - Arnold Imaging, Christina Hoxie - BNIM, Shaul Jolles - OfficePort, Daniel Dermitzel - Cultivate Kansas City, Rachel Pollak - New Roots for Refugees, Eric Solberg - DB Duality, Jase Wilson - Luminopolis, Jeremy Eccles - Rade|Eccles, Gregory Kolsto - Oddly Correct, John Raux - artist

Film: Through out the two days, Screenland Theatre will host screenings and dialogues by the animators Shaun Hammontree of MK12, Stuart Bury, and Jeremy Collins as well as the film directors Mike Mohan, Chris Good, and Todd Sklar, many of whom have participated in The Sundance Film Festival, Five Points Film Festival, and Amsterdam Film Festival.

Performance: On Thursday evening, Cole Crawford, Max Justus (The Record Machine), and Paul Rudy (UMKC Conservatory) will perform, representing 3 generations of electronic music.

Future Currents: On Friday evening, OfficePort will host a group show featuring new artwork from 22 visual artists. This show will be open to the public during The Crossroad’s First Friday’s.

Forum Sponsors:
KC Creative Crossroads
KC Next
Polsinelli Shughart
SKii
StagePort, 208 W. 19th St, KCMO 64108
OfficePort, 208 W. 19th St, KCMO 64108
Screenland Theater, 1656 Washington, KCMO, 64108

Breakfast tide and more reflections in the void. Death is the...

Wed, 22 Feb 2012 13:04:00 -0600

Breakfast tide and more reflections in the void.

Death is the giving of all life. In a simulated death we all sleep each night, falling into the subterranean realms of quantum possibility and causal paradoxes. Dreams often bring revelation to our otherwise clocklike structure and movement of particles and pastimes. Our death tide brings health as well as surprise. Our downtime in life is almost the opposite of downtime. Our cells respond to context and command in a discrete and patient emergence while awake, but in sleep they open the flood gates to the dance and purpose of play and maintenance. When fasting while awake there is an awakening of the senses to deep physical empathy with the worlds desires. Longing drives the seeking. Patience perseveres the longing. Presence actualizes the saunter into the shape of things yet to come.

I was overjoyed when the most beautiful sketchbook (made by...

Sat, 18 Feb 2012 18:46:10 -0600

I was overjoyed when the most beautiful sketchbook (made by Courtney Perkins) was handed to me today.

Blank pages may be ominous, as they are the hosts of possibility, but in this case the medium is the Muse for the journey.

Some days I feel like a sword juggler asking for spare change in...

Sat, 18 Feb 2012 11:05:45 -0600

Some days I feel like a sword juggler asking for spare change in the middle of the road ….with a mix of a juggling grace, the compassion of friends & strangers, and mercy of the ongoing contexts swerving around me yelling at me to give up for the sake of ….your life, your health, our fears for you, your future.

There is sufficiency to living and scarcity in the fear of dying. Risk assessment is wisdom and the means to make good, meaningful, difficult and even dangerous choices. Fear is often a self fulfilling prophecy and hides within barriers of self defense strategies while lashing out at those who dare defy prophecy.

Waking life has the power to show its own limitations while creating a new precedent for reality. Sleeping life is the gross mob of zombies in the mall instinctively drawing closer to eat brains… with good reason of course… like, ummm.. arrrggg… mee hunnngrrry. My zombie brain wants to have dinner with you. Just eat of what we’ll learn.